Oskar Kolberg occupies an important place in Polish musicological history. His ethnographic research was extensive and he succeeded in collecting a vast array of nineteenth-century folk music, in multiple volumes, to which generations of scholars and musicians have been hugely indebted. But he was not just a collector and educator, he was also a composer. He studied in Warsaw and in Berlin and, when circumstances allowed – in the later 1850s he was more often to turn from composition to musical criticism – he produced a stream of piano pieces and songs in particular.

Dux divides these genres so that each occupies a single disc. The piano works include a raft of folk-based mazurkas – staple fare for a Polish composer – a number of which occupy the territory of genially generic. In these circumstances the Mazurka he composed in 1876 (CD1 track 3) stands out for its comparatively advanced harmonies, whilst elsewhere the inevitable presence of Chopin can be felt. The more extensive Polonaises extracted from the Op.1 set reveal a similarly assured compositional hand. The Six Contradanses françaises are sweet miniatures, charming and unpretentious. Perhaps the Fantasy Mazurka (track 25) is one of the best examples of his sense of vivacity and characterisation, its decorative narrative sounding well in this performance.

There are 27 individual songs, parcelled out amongst three tenors and a mezzo, anchored here – and throughout – by hard-working and resilient Mariusz Rutkowski. The songs mirror the piano settings in their rather circumscribed emotional heft and adherence to established models. Some are rather penny-plain whilst others (CD2 track 7) adopt a vocal-mazurka style with a Schubertian admixture. Songs both avuncular and melancholic – the sequence of Jasolka (tracks 15-17) an example of the latter trait – are part of Kolberg’s palette though there are occasions where an attractively lyric vocal line is sabotaged by indifferent piano writing. It’s also the case that a number of the settings have a rather Biedermeyer quality, as well as some blink-and-they’re-gone folk settings that last barely 30 seconds.

The performances are admirable and the musicians are adroit guides to pieces that have localised charm but sometimes lack definable expressive power. The lack of texts, however, will be a real problem.